Here are a Few Ways You Can Take Real Action During Banned Books Week
Do more than just read a banned book
I beat the drum over the issue of censorship and the banning of books so often that I could probably fill in for Max Weinberg when Bruce and the E Street Band head out on the road again next year. Thus, it should not be a surprise that I’m banging that drum even louder today as we start Banned Books Week in the United States (I even warned you two weeks ago here). This article, however, is not a rant against the sorry state of intellectual freedom in the country today, but rather about some practical steps everyone can take to actually combat the problem.
On the American Library Association website, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, summed up the issue quite succinctly:
“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.”
However, the ALA is not simply moaning that the sky is falling. Nor is it only encouraging the bare minimum people can do, like reading a banned book, buying one from an independent bookstore, or saying thank you to a school librarian (as…
